ARM Presse S.E.N.C. · Junior Operator Program

Matteo's 2-Week Cricut Missions 🎯

One mission a day. Design it, cut it, finish it — same day. You research, you build, you level up. By Day 10 you'll make something real that goes on our table.

House Rules — read before Mission 1

Week 1 · Fundamentals — cutting, weeding, stickers
1

Boot Up + Your First Cut

Make a vinyl name decal for your own water bottle or laptop.
~2–3 hrs
📺Watch
Cricut Design Space Guide in 30 Minutes (2025)
📖Read
Official: How to use Design Space
🔨Steps
  1. Open Design Space → New Project. Poke around: canvas, grid, left panel.
  2. Click Text, type your name. Pick a bold, chunky font (thin fonts are hard to weed).
  3. Size it to about 8–10 cm wide.
  4. Put a scrap of regular (non-heat) vinyl shiny/pretty side UP on the green mat.
  5. Click Make It → material "Vinyl" → cut.
  6. Weed it: pull away everything that isn't your name.
  7. Apply transfer tape, then stick it clean on your bottle. Smooth from the middle out.
VinylWeedingTransfer tape
✅ You nailed it if: your name is stuck on straight, no letters torn, no big bubbles.
🔍 Research challenge: What's the difference between an SVG and a PNG file, and why does Cricut prefer SVG for cutting? Write one sentence in your logbook.
📱 Message Dad if: the machine won't connect, or the blade doesn't cut all the way through after a test cut.
What I made:
What went wrong / was tricky:
Next time I'd:
2

Die-Cut Vinyl Sticker

Cut a small shape/logo sticker and apply it to a notebook.
~2 hrs
📺Watch
Cricut Design Space for Beginners 2025 — Part 1
📖Read
Official: How to use Design Space (Upload + Shapes sections)
🔨Steps
  1. In Design Space use Shapes (star, heart) or Upload a simple SVG you own.
  2. Keep it 5–7 cm and one colour for now.
  3. Vinyl on the mat, Make It → "Vinyl" → cut.
  4. Weed slowly. This is the skill — patience beats speed.
  5. Transfer tape → apply to your notebook or binder.
Upload toolWeeding
✅ You nailed it if: clean edges, nothing lifted, sits flat.
🔍 Research challenge: What is a "kiss cut" vs a "die cut"? You'll use both words with customers, so learn them today.
📱 Message Dad if: the weeding keeps tearing — the design detail might be too small, and I can help you resize.
What I made:
What went wrong / was tricky:
Next time I'd:
3

Print-Then-Cut Sticker (real Etsy workflow!)

Print a full-colour sticker on the Epson, then let the Cricut cut around it.
~3 hrs
📖Read (do these two)
Official: How to Print Then Cut
Official: How to use Create Sticker
🔨Steps
  1. Design a colourful sticker (upload a PNG you own, or use shapes + text).
  2. Add an Offset (~0.2–0.3 cm white border) so it looks like a real sticker.
  3. Use Create Sticker (or Attach + Flatten), pick Die Cut.
  4. Make It → print on our glossy sticker paper on the Epson ET-2800. Turn OFF "Fit to Page" — print at 100%.
  5. Let ink dry 2–3 min. Put sheet on the LightGrip (blue) mat, top-left corner lined up.
  6. Load → the Cricut scans the black registration box → cuts.
Print Then CutOffsetRegistration marks
✅ You nailed it if: the cut follows your border cleanly, not cutting into the picture.
🔍 Research challenge: Why does bright sunlight or a shadow make the machine fail to read the registration marks? Find the answer and note the fix.
📱 Message Dad if: the machine says it can't read the marks even after you moved away from direct light — it may need a calibration, which we'll do together.
What I made:
What went wrong / was tricky:
Next time I'd:
4

Iron-On / HTV Shirt 🔥 Heat

Cut an HTV design + apply it to a tote or test shirt. THE big lesson: Mirror!
Cut ~1.5 hrs · press in the evening
📖Read (this is the key one)
Official: How to Mirror your design
Official: Smart Iron-On (cut + apply)
🔨Steps — daytime (solo)
  1. Make a simple one-colour design, 10–12 cm.
  2. Click Make It → toggle MIRROR ON. (Skip this and your text prints backwards!)
  3. Put HTV shiny side DOWN on the mat (so the matte vinyl side gets cut).
  4. Material = "Iron-On" / your HTV type → cut → weed, leaving the design on the clear liner.
  5. Set it aside neatly for the press step.
🔥Steps — evening (with Dad or Mom)
  1. Preheat the garment, place design liner-side up, press per the Cricut Heat Guide, peel when cool.
HTVMirrorWeeding
✅ You nailed it if: after pressing, the design reads the right way round and edges are stuck down.
🔍 Research challenge: Which side of HTV is the "carrier sheet," and what's the trick to tell the shiny side apart when both look the same?
📱 Message Dad if: you're not 100% sure Mirror is ON before cutting. Better to ask than waste a sheet.
What I made:
Did I remember to Mirror? What went wrong:
Next time I'd:
5

Custom Mug 🔥 Heat

Design + cut an Infusible Ink mug wrap. Press it with Dad in the evening.
Cut ~1.5 hrs · press in the evening
📖Read
Official: How to use Cricut Mug Press
Official: How to use Infusible Ink
🔨Steps — daytime (solo)
  1. Keep the design simple + bold — thin lines get lost in Infusible Ink.
  2. Size it to fit the mug, stay ½ inch away from the handle.
  3. Mirror ON (Infusible Ink, like HTV, must be mirrored).
  4. Infusible Ink sheet liner side down (colour up) on the Standard mat → cut.
  5. Weed carefully — don't touch the ink with oily fingers. Set aside for the press.
🔥Steps — evening (with an adult)
  1. Lint-roll the mug, wrap the design centred, tape it, press in the Mug Press, let it cool fully before touching.
Infusible InkMirrorMug Press
✅ You nailed it if: the colour "pops" after pressing (it looks dull before!) and it's centred.
🔍 Research challenge: Why can't you use a random dollar-store mug for this? Find the word that describes the special coating a mug needs.
📱 Message Dad if: you're unsure the blank is sublimation/Infusible-Ink-ready. We only press approved mugs.
What I made:
What went wrong / was tricky:
Next time I'd:
Week 2 · Production & Ownership — think like an operator
6

Two-Colour Layered Decal

A vinyl design with two colours that line up perfectly.
~2.5 hrs
📖Read
Official: Design Space Guide — find the Layers and Align tools.
🔨Steps
  1. Build a design with exactly 2 colours (e.g. a shape + text on top).
  2. Design Space will split it into 2 mats (one per colour). Cut each on its own vinyl.
  3. Weed both. Use transfer tape to layer colour 2 onto colour 1, lining up carefully.
  4. Apply the finished 2-layer decal to a surface.
LayersAlignmentRegistration
✅ You nailed it if: both colours line up with no gap or overlap.
🔍 Research challenge: What does the "Attach" button do, and how is it different from "Group"? This one confuses everybody — learn it.
📱 Message Dad if: the two layers just won't line up — there's a hinge/registration trick I can show you.
What I made:
What went wrong / was tricky:
Next time I'd:
7

Full Sticker Sheet — Batch Production

Fit as many stickers as possible on ONE sheet. Save material = save money.
~2.5 hrs
📖Read
Official: Create Sticker — look at Kiss Cut + Project Copies.
🔨Steps
  1. Take a few of your best sticker designs.
  2. Arrange them tightly on one sheet — leave ~0.25 cm between each. Attach so they don't move.
  3. Use Kiss Cut so they peel off a shared backing (like real sticker sheets).
  4. Print at 100% → cut on the blue mat.
  5. Name and save the file properly: e.g. Stickers_Sheet01_Matteo.svg.
BatchingKiss cutFile naming
✅ You nailed it if: the sheet is packed efficiently and every sticker kiss-cuts cleanly.
🔍 Research challenge: Why do real print shops care so much about fitting more pieces on one sheet? Think about cost per sticker and write your answer.
✉️Client-comms mini-task
Write a 2-sentence message like you're replying to a customer: describe your sticker sheet and what it costs. (Practice for real emails.)
What I made:
What went wrong / was tricky:
Next time I'd:
8

Your Own Design — Free Choice

You decide: a sticker pack, a shirt for a friend, a decal — anything. Full workflow, solo.
~3 hrs
🔨Steps
  1. Pick your product and the method you learned this week.
  2. Design it start-to-finish yourself. No copying Disney / Nike / logos you don't own (that's the rule for our shop too).
  3. Cut it. Do the whole finish yourself — except heat pressing, which waits for an adult.
IndependenceYour call
✅ You nailed it if: you got through the whole process without needing step-by-step help.
🔍 Research challenge: Find out why we can't sell designs with brand logos or characters we don't own. What's the word for that? (Starts with "copy…")
📱 Message Dad if: you want a second opinion on whether a design is OK to use — always ask before selling anything.
What I made + why I chose it:
What went wrong / was tricky:
Next time I'd:
9

Print-Then-Cut Bookmark (a real ARM Presse product)

Make a 6 × 16 cm bookmark on cardstock — one of our actual SKUs.
~2.5 hrs
📖Read
Official: Print Then Cut (same tech, thicker material).
🔨Steps
  1. Design a bookmark at 6 × 16 cm with a nice border.
  2. Print on cardstock at 100%.
  3. Cut with a heavy cardstock setting, more pressure, 2 passes (ask Dad about our saved setting).
  4. Round the corners if you want a pro finish.
CardstockReal SKUPressure/passes
✅ You nailed it if: clean cut through the cardstock, corners neat, looks sellable.
🔍 Research challenge: Why do thick materials sometimes need 2 passes instead of 1? What would happen if you just cranked the pressure super high instead?
📱 Message Dad if: the cardstock isn't cutting through cleanly — we may need to tweak the pressure or replace the blade.
What I made:
What went wrong / was tricky:
Next time I'd:
10

Graduation Project 🏆

Make ONE polished, sellable product — and show your portfolio.
~3 hrs
🔨Steps
  1. Choose your strongest product from the last 2 weeks and make one clean, market-ready version.
  2. Lay out all 10 of your builds (or photos of them) — that's your portfolio.
  3. Teach-back: show Dad or Mom one thing you learned that they should know. Teaching it proves you own it.
  4. Write a short "product listing" for it: name, what it is, price. (Real Etsy practice.)
PortfolioTeach-backSellable
✅ You nailed it if: the final product is clean enough that it could sit on our market table with the others.
My graduation product:
The one thing I taught Dad/Mom:
What I want to learn next:

🎓 ARM Presse Junior Operator

Complete all 10 missions and fill every logbook to earn the title.

This certifies that Matteo completed the ARM Presse 2-Week Cricut Program
and is now an official Junior Operator.

Signed: _______________________ · Date: ______________